Children will suffer if HUSKY and SNAP are cut

Kids could lose access to healthcare and food

Without HUSKY and SNAP, Lisandra in Waterbury doesn’t know how she’d pay for her daughter’s inhalers, which are $600 each.

“I can’t afford that,” she told us.

Like many parents in our state who are struggling with the rising cost of living, she’s skipped meals so her children can eat. And, unless our lawmakers step in to protect HUSKY and SNAP, more Connecticut parents will be forced to make impossible decisions for their families.

About 900,000 Connecticut residents are on HUSKY, and about 366,000 of those are children. About 400,000 Connecticut residents received SNAP last year, and more than half are families with children. More than one-third of births in the state are covered by HUSKY.

It’s expected that one in 20 people in the state could lose HUSKY when new rules and cuts go into effect. In some cities, that’s one in 10 total residents losing their healthcare coverage. Up to 200,000 people in Connecticut could lose HUSKY, and a new report from The Connecticut Project partner DataHaven estimates that 58,000 households in the state will lose at least $25 a month in SNAP benefits.

K., who lives in Norwalk, told us that if it wasn’t for SNAP, her family would only eat once a day. 

“It’s hard to see your kids looking for food that isn’t there,” she said. “My kids [have] asthma, food allergies, so HUSKY helped with medicine [and doctors’ visits], I cannot think of what I would do without it.”

Although it’s not clear when the new rules and cuts will hit, children will suffer when it happens. Free and reduced school lunch programs don’t cover every meal. Kids still need to eat dinner, and  eat on weekends and during winter and summer breaks. Many parents told us that they often go without eating so that their children have a meal. Sometimes, even that isn’t enough.

When families lose HUSKY, parents can be forced to delay routine care for their children, not be able to take them to the doctor when they’re sick, and skip seasonal vaccines because they cost too much. It is unfair for the federal government to take healthcare away from parents and children who have done nothing wrong. Without access to medical care, sick children will miss more school, potentially face dangerous complications from being ill, and end up in expensive emergency rooms. Children with vision and hearing issues could go undiagnosed.

The new changes mean that parents with teenagers could lose SNAP, hurting the entire family. School children on SNAP are also automatically enrolled in free and reduced-breakfast and lunch programs. Without SNAP, families could also lose access to those programs, making it even harder to keep their children fed.

Sarah from Litchfield County said that without HUSKY, her family would not have access to healthcare. She’s had to choose between paying rent, getting medical care, and buying food. 

“I used [HUSKY] for the birth of my 3 kids under the age of 2, and being a single mother to all 3, I wouldn’t be able to afford to keep up with the necessary appointments for my children or myself,” she said. “My 8-month-old is currently seeing a lot of specialists due to health concerns and I wouldn’t be able to afford that either. If I didn’t have HUSKY, none of us can see a doctor.”

Medical bills make it harder to pay rent, keep the lights on, make repairs on a car, and save for the future. Debt is difficult to pay off and can hurt your credit score, make it hard to find a place to live, and make buying a car or taking out a loan more expensive. 

Parents are already struggling to make ends meet. One in four parents of young children struggle to pay for food, and 40% of parents who have debt have medical bills they are trying to pay. Without insurance, you can be charged more than $20,600 to have a baby, and that doesn’t include complications, prenatal appointments, and check-ups for the baby. Most people can’t afford to pay that much.

It is still not clear when cuts and changes to HUSKY will happen, because the state has not received a timeline from the federal government. Changes to SNAP are expected to start on Nov. 1, 2025. The Connecticut Department of Social Services is tracking changes to HUSKY and SNAP and when they will happen. If you are currently using HUSKY or SNAP, you should still receive your benefits until you hear otherwise. It’s important to keep your address updated with the state so that you will know if your status changes.

Whether you have HUSKY or SNAP or not, your lawmakers need to hear from you. Take action now to fight for HUSKY and SNAP.